PARATY, BRAZIL

From the moment we boarded the 90 passenger schooner for the half hour sail-in to the village of Paraty (Pair-a-CHEE which means white fish) until we returned to the ship, we felt that we'd stepped into the past! It's a preserved Portuguese colonial town with a population of about 36,000, founded some time between the mid-16^th century and the beginning of the 17^th century.

We arrived just in time to see a wedding party proceeding along the pier towards one of the hundreds of boats of varying sizes for a reception. Everyone was dressed totally in sparkling white, and many carried flowers and plates of food. What a colorful sight against the backdrop of all those brightly painted boats!

The streets are paved with large cobblestones originally brought to the port as ballast aboard colonial ships (very hard on the ankles and feet!), and we were treated to several sightings of horse drawn wagons plodding through the streets. It is a very clean town, and I was amused to see a tarp attached to the carts under the horse's hind quarters to catch any stray droppings! They also have cars and motorbikes for transportation.

The three main churches have been preserved--one was built by slaves for slave use, another for freed people of mixed races and the third was for use by Caucasian colonists. The town has had a spotty economic history, with gold being discovered in 1696 which led to the construction of the 750 mile "Gold Trail" but the gold ran out in the late 18^th century and Paraty declined. Next was a coffee boom in the early 18^th century, until the railroad made shipping to Rio much cheaper, and the final small economic revival in the late 1800s was the production of "cachaca," a sweet rum-like spirit made from sugar cane. This is the basis of the famous Brazilian drink, the caipirinha.

Today the almost abandoned town has been transformed from fishing and agricultural industries to a tourism destination. They have many galleries and open air restaurants, a few handicraft shops and a puppet theater. There are hundreds of tiny islands in the area boasting small reefs for snorkeling and a diverse array of marine species for fishing, and alluring beaches. It is a wonderful area for hiking, especially along the old gold trail, with good views, pristine waterfalls, a variety of birds and several monkey species.

Delightful as our visit was, we were happy to get back to our air conditioned ship with all its amenities!